Adaumbelle's Quest was created to ask performers the everyday burning questions others are too afraid to ask, but secretly want to know. NEW POSTS go up every SUNDAY (with surprises in between)! Be sure to check back…

On Monday, January 10, 2011, I had the fortunate experience of interviewing Adam Pascal after his and Anthony Rapp’s concert at Town Hall (click here for my review, Anthony’s interview is coming soon). On-stage Adam knows how to entertain and off-stage is no different. Personable and humorous, Adam was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions.

Best known for playing the original “Roger” in the Tony Award Winning musical “Rent,” which earned Adam a Theatre World Award, an OBIE Award, and a Tony Award Nomination, Adam has gone on to have quite a career! After “Rent,” Adam went on to originate the role of “Radames” in Broadway’s “Aida” by Elton John and Tim Rice and played the “Emcee” in the final cast of “Cabaret” by Kander and Ebb. In 2008, Adam starred alongside Josh Groban and Idina Menzel in London for two sold-out performances of the Tim Rice/ABBA musical “Chess” at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

In addition to theatre, Adam has released three solo albums…”Model Prisoner,” “Civilian,” and his latest CD “Blinding Light” and starred in such movies as “Rent,” “SLC Punk,” “School of Rock,” “Temptation,” and his two most recent films “Falling Star” and “American Primitive.” Adam is also hard at work on a musical for Broadway based on the concept album “Operation Mindcrime,” by the progressive rock band Queensryche.

1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer? Rock music inspired me to become a performer. I got hooked on rock music at 9 years old and shortly after that discovered I could carry a tune and then it just kind of went from there. I just always loved to sing and the harder I sang and the more blood vessels I burst in my neck trying to sing like all of these heavy metal singers I listened to growing up, the better it felt. It was such a feeling of expression and power. If I was feeling vulnerable, it made me feel strong. If I was feeling weak, it made me feel powerful. It’s always been that for me.

2. What is the highest and lowest note you can sing? Hahaha…I have no idea. I’m so not a schooled singer in that way I couldn’t tell you. I’d just say high and low. Hahaha.

3. Who’s the one person you haven’t worked with that you would like to? Oh god, there are so many. God, that’s a good question. I would love to work with Jason Robert Brown. We worked a little bit together, but not on a full original production. I love his music and I love his work. I would also love to work with Stephen Sondheim and I would love to work with Michael Greif again. I’m always honored that anybody of note wants to work with me, so I’m open to working with anybody who has an interest in working with me.

4. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? That’s good one too. “Grow up.” I can’t tell you how many countless people I’ve heard that from and it never sticks, but it’s always good advice.

5. What do you get from performing in a solo concert that you don’t get from performing in a Broadway show? For me personally, I’m much more exposed, much more naked. I get to play instruments and get to express myself in what is the most natural way for me to do it. Although, that being said, I’ve always felt a little more comfortable doing musicals than doing a concert and I think that’s because you can hide. You can hide behind a character. You can also hide behind somebody else’s material. I always had this opinion in the back of my mind where I was like, “I know I’m going to go out there and sing well and I’m going to do a good job and if they didn’t like the show, I didn’t write it. There’s a certain security in that. As long as I know people will come away and say that show sucked, but that guy was good, that’s the most I could do.

6. If you couldn’t be doing what you are doing now, what career would you choose? I never had another career path. I never could do anything else, of value. That’s a really hard question to answer because I’d really be lost. I wouldn’t have a career, I would have a job.

7. Favorite way to spend your day off? At home. At home with my kids smoking weed. Not smoking weed with my kids, but as two separate events.

10. Favorite website? I love Broadway Stars. My wife always make fun of me because of the name. The name is misleading because it’s not really about Broadway Stars. It’s really an amazing hub for everything theatre related, whether it’s Broadway, Regional, West End. It’s so dense with information, so I check that site at least twice a day.

11. Superman or Wonder Woman? Wonder Woman.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

12. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that nobody knows about? Not really. I wish I did. The only talent I have is what I can do on stage. Anything else I wouldn’t classify as a talent…I can do light carpentry, light electrical, and light plumbing, certainly not talents.

13. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? Hahaha…other than my wife, Jessica Biel, preferably more than once a night. I could dream about her over and over again.